Chapter 4

The flying lessons continued all week long and before Hermione knew it, it was Saturday and time for her to leave for Padma's baby shower.

"Just remember everything we talked about," Snape told her that morning after a quick run-through of everything he had taught her. "You'll be fine. It's not like this is the Quidditch World Cup or anything."

Well that was easy for him to say, Hermione thought as she walked towards Hogsmeade. He had been flying since he could walk! She, however, would be the only one at the baby shower who hadn't been flying since she started at Hogwarts. Well she would show them.

She stepped up her pace and walked faster, determined not to let her resolve falter. She stepped over the threshold into Hogsmeade and apparated.

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"Hermione, you were amazing!"

"Excellent flying Mione, really excellent!"

"Where did you learn to do that?"

It was three o'clock in the afternoon and they had just finished a series of relay races on broomsticks. The party had been separated into groups of four, Hermione's group consisting of herself, Harry, Parvati, and Fred. When her name had come up for her group she heard a collective groan come from the other three. She had merely lifted her chin and glared, daring them to cross her.

"We will win this," she had told them.

She was right. They won by a margin of nearly a hundred yards.

She shook her head and came back to the present, then looked over at George Weasley, the person who had asked the last question.

"What George, you don't believe that was just talent?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him.

Everyone laughed.

"We've all seen you fly before Hermione," Padma pointed out, laughing heartily.

"I'm not sure you really want to know," she said, frowning. They weren't going to believe her even if she did tell them.

"We do Mione," Ron said, wrapping an arm around Padma's shoulders.

"Professor Snape taught me."

"What?!" everyone exclaimed at the same time. There was a flurry of excited voices and many shaking heads.

"Yeah, he's actually been helping me quite a bit since I started working at the school," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes at the group. "Apparently he was a beater on the Slytherin Quidditch team and he's an excellent flier. He taught me that in a week."

"He taught you to fly like that in a week?" Harry asked, his eyebrows nearly disappearing in his hairline.

"Yes, he did," Hermione answered, smiling. "Now I think we won a prize, didn't we?" she asked, dodging the subject of her budding friendship with the most frightening professor at Hogwarts.

"Ah, yes," Fred exclaimed, his blue eyes lighting up with glee. "Where is the prize?"

"Yeah, we're ready for our winnings, now," Parvati said, grinning smugly.

"Here you are," Ginny announced, handing a large blue bag to each of them. Hermione dug into the bag and smiled. She pulled out a large bottle of wine and held it out in front of her.

"I hope we're not expected to share this right now," she said, smirking at the crowd of people around her.

"Absolutely not!" Fred yelled, clutching his bottle tightly to his chest. "I think someone special might want to share this with me." He turned to his right and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his wife, Maria.

"Don't think you're going to get back on my good side with that, Frederick," she said, glaring at him. "I still haven't forgotten about the color-changing shampoo you traded for my regular shampoo."

Fred and George both guffawed loudly at that. The color-changing shampoo was one of their hottest selling items.

"Well, we had to test it on someone," Fred pointed out, shrugging his shoulders.

"Did you have to go to work with blue hair?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, er, no, but," he stammered, blushing to the roots of his hair.

"Well, I'm starved," Padma announced, breaking up a potentially explosive argument. "Anyone else?"

"Yes, let's eat," Ron agreed, pulling his wife toward the tables that were literally sagging with plates of food.

"You're always hungry, Ron," Harry said, putting an arm around Ginny's waist and following Ron and Padma to the food tables. "You'd think he'd be the size of a house by now," he said in an undertone to his wife. She giggled and punched Harry lightly on the shoulder.

"I don't think you have any room to talk, Mr. Potter," Hermione said, coming up beside him.

"Oh, that hurt!" he exclaimed, swinging his other arm around Hermione's waist and giving her a light squeeze. "Just because Ron and I don't eat like birds."

She harrumphed at him, but couldn't help smiling at the look on his face. His eyebrows were scrunched together and he had the cutest little frown on his face.

"Ginny, how do you say no to him?" Hermione asked, leaning around Harry to face Ginny.

"I usually don't," Ginny answered, laughing, "but I find that simply not looking at his face when I say no helps." She paused and planted a small kiss on Harry's cheek. "But that cute little pout always pops into my mind and I almost always end up saying yes after I say no. It's infuriating!"

"I can't help it if I'm irresistible," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

"You and Malfoy should start a fan club," Ginny said, winking at Hermione.

"Please!" Harry exclaimed, looking over at his wife with a shocked expression on his face. "Don't compare me to that, that,"

"Complete and total pain in the fucking ass?" Ron asked, in a voice that one would use to inquire about the weather.

"Ronald!" Padma exclaimed, placing her hands protectively over her belly. "They don't need to hear that kind of language!"

"Speaking of 'they'," Hermione said, stopping and smiling at Padma. "Do we know whether we are going to have another Fred and George or another Parvati and Padma?"

"Well," Padma began, blushing lightly. "We weren't going to tell anyone until the birth, but since you asked,"

"We're having one of each!" Ron exclaimed, not able to hold his tongue any longer. He was grinning from ear to ear, one hand rubbing across Padma's belly tenderly.

"Oh that's wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed, rushing over and hugging both of them.

"Have you decided on names yet?" Ginny asked, pulling away from the embrace she had been sharing with her brother.

"We're going to name the girl Gracen and the boy Grant," Padma replied, grinning as widely as Ron.

"Excellent!" George exclaimed. "I can't wait to teach them some of Fred and my tricks!"

"Hopefully they will follow in our footsteps," Fred said, wistfully.

Everyone stared at the twins, horror on every face. No one wanted to be around if Fred and George ever got the new twins alone. It was bad enough having one Fred and George, but two?

"Not if I have anything to do with it," Maria said, grinning at Padma. "I wouldn't wish Fred and George on anyone."

"Hey!" Fred exclaimed, a hurt look on his face.

"Okay, I thought we came over here to eat," Ron said, stepping between his brother and sister-in-law. "Not tear eachother apart."

"You're right," Maria agreed, stepping around Ron. She stood on tiptoe and kissed Fred lightly on the lips. "Let's eat, Freddy."

"Anything you say," he said, pulling her in for another kiss.

Ron groaned.

"Oh, here they go again," he moaned, shaking his head.

Everyone stepped around the couple who were completely oblivious to everyone around them. They didn't even notice when George poured a drop of Lover's Levitation on the two of them and they began to drift up into the sky.

"They're going to get a nasty shock when they come up for air," Hermione said, glancing up at the floating couple.

"Don't worry," George said, following her gaze. "The potion wears off after a couple of hours."

Hermione whipped her head around to George, a huge, evil grin plastered on his face. God she never wanted to get on either of the twin's bad sides. She shuddered thinking about what they might have in store for her if she turned her back for even a second.

"I hope I never make you mad, George," Hermione said, shaking her head. He threw his head back and laughed, then swung an arm around her shoulders to steer her back toward the food.

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Hermione walked slowly back down the path from Hogsmeade, a small smile coming to her lips. The day had been wonderful. She had spent the entire day with people she loved and shocked them all with her newfound talent at flying. She, of course, had Severus to thank for that. Severus. The smile grew wider as she thought about him. She had only been in the castle for three weeks and already she felt differently about her old Potions professor. They had formed a close friendship and she loved it. None of her other friends could challenge her mind the way he could and she treasured that quality in him. Her free evenings would find her in his office, a tray of tea between them on the table and a fire crackling merrily in the fireplace. They sometimes stayed up until the wee hours of the morning discussing everything from the workings of the Ministry of Magic to Muggle literature. They never discussed Voldemort or the fact that he could be summoned at any time. She shuddered as she thought about it. She wondered how she would feel if he were to be summoned and come back injured. Would she be able to help him? She shook off the feeling of dread that had just settled on her shoulders and walked faster, hoping to make it back to the castle before the sun had fully set.

Her fingers strayed down into her bag and fell on something made of cool glass. She pulled it out of the bag and smiled down at the neck of a purple wine bottle.

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Severus stepped out of the shower and wrapped a large blue towel around his waist, wiping steam off of the mirror with his free hand. He looked into the mirror and frowned. No, he certainly wouldn't call himself handsome. He had let his hair grow over the summer and liked to wear it pulled back in a ponytail. He had a rather high forehead that came down to two severely arched black eyebrows over sparkling eyes, so dark brown they were almost black. He poked the sides of his nose, as if trying to straighten out the crooked line, knowing in his heart that there was nothing he could do about it. Black had broken his nose far too many times for it to ever be straight again. He had fairly thin, pink lips over slightly crooked teeth. Teeth that were no longer yellow, but a sparkling white. He only yellowed his teeth for the school year. It made the students loathe him and kept up the charade he pulled every day of his life. He sighed and turned away from the mirror. No, he knew better than to hope any woman would ever look at him with love in her eyes.

He dressed in a pair of gray pants and a black t-shirt and pulled his hair back, all the while thinking that he didn't want just any woman. No, he knew exactly who he wanted. "You may as well wish for a perfect life, Severus," he said aloud, looking out the window at the path from Hogsmeade. He started back in surprise at the sight he beheld out his window. Hermione was actually skipping up the path, a beautiful smile on her face, looking for all the world as if she had discovered the meaning of life. He laughed aloud, then made his way to his office and exited through the door. He sauntered up toward the path and stopped against a tree, leaning on the trunk with his hands in his pockets.

"You certainly look pleased with yourself!" he called, making her stop in her tracks and whirl around. She smiled widely and laughed.

"Severus!" she called, running down toward him. "You took me by surprise." She took in his appearance, her eyes widening as she noticed the way the shirt clung to his lean frame, outlining his muscles perfectly. She took a deep breath and tried to force down the flush rising to her cheeks. "Would you like to escort me back to the castle?"

He pushed himself away from the tree and extended his arm. She laughed, then accepted his arm and started walking back up the path.

"So what is it that made you so happy?" he asked, leaning toward her slightly and breathing in the delicious scent of her hair. It smelled like ripe berries and vanilla. Intoxicating, really.

"I had such a wonderful day," she began, grinning. "I didn't realize how much I would miss everyone until I was actually gone, you know?"

He nodded as if he understood, but in reality he had no idea what she meant. He had never had anyone close enough to him to actually miss.

"And, I totally wowed them during the relay race," she said, grinning smugly up at him. "You really did it! You taught me how to fly! Anyone else would have told me it was impossible and given up." She squeezed his arm to her side and sighed. "Thank you so much for your help, Severus."

His voice shook when he spoke next.

"You're welcome, Hermione." It was very disconcerting having her holding onto him so tightly.

"Well," she pulled back and dug in her bag. "I won a little prize and I was hoping you would share it with me." She looked back up at him and held out her hand, a bottle of wine clutched in her fingers. She cocked her head and smiled lightly at him. "What do you say?"

He grinned and took the bottle from her, studying the label closely.

"Inspection passed," he announced, handing the bottle back to her. "An excellent year." He put a hand to her lower back and steered her toward the low door to his office. "I accept."

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"I don't think my office will do," he told her, opening the door and heading out into the hallway. She followed him around the corner and up a winding staircase. She watched him pull out his wand and utter a few spells then followed him through the door to his rooms. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. His quarters were sumptuously decorated in rich earth tones, each piece complimenting the next perfectly. The furniture was all made out of dark wood and brown leather, there was a huge fireplace in front of the couch, and best of all, he had bookshelves on every wall, literally sagging under the weight of all of his books. Hermione's eyes lit up as she walked over to a shelf and ran her fingers over the leather bindings. He watched her with amusement. She seemed to have forgotten where she was.

"You're free to borrow any of them whenever you wish," he said, opening a cabinet and pulling down two wineglasses.

She whirled around with a guilty look on her face.

"Did I look that pathetic?" she asked, blushing.

"You looked like you were in heaven," he said, setting the glasses and wine down on a table in front of the couch.

"I was," she said, sitting down next to him on the couch. "Books are my first love."

He poured wine in each of their glasses and handed one to her, a strange look on his face.

"I thought I was the only one like that," he said, taking a long drink of his wine.

"I'm finding out we're made of the same cloth," Hermione muttered, following suit and drinking her wine down in one swallow. He raised an eyebrow at her and poured her more wine.

They sat together for quite awhile, finishing the bottle in the process, each becoming a little light-headed as they talked.

"Severus, can I ask you something?" she asked, blushing.

"Of course," he replied, swinging his legs up on the table and leaning his head back on the couch.

She studied his profile for a moment, not knowing exactly how to word her question.

"Well, I've noticed since I came here that you look, well, different," she began, flushing harder. "And I was wondering what you did to make yourself look so...so..." She paused, dreading the next word. "Clean."

His head shot up off the back of the couch and he simply looked at her, no expression on his face. She wrung her hands in her lap and looked down.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you that," she looked up and started back.

His eyes were closed and his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter.

"Severus?" she asked, reaching over and touching his arm.

His eyes shot open and he roared with laughter, slapping his knees with both hands.

"Oh my!" he exclaimed, the laughter finally dying down. "Is that all?" He turned toward her and smiled. "Hermione, you are aware of my double life, correct?" She nodded. "Part of my job is making sure everyone here is intimidated by me, in order to keep up my reputation as a 'scary death-eater.' My appearance is part of that." He paused and leaned back on the arm of the couch. "I make my hair greasy, yellow my teeth, and use a special potion on my skin." He shrugged and looked back over at her. "It's a small price to pay for Dumbledore's trust."

She smiled, finally understanding the change.

"It's too bad you have to do that," she said, curling her legs under her lithe frame. "You're really quite handsome." She slapped a hand to her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. "Oh God." She stood up and backed away from the couch. "I have to go." With that, she turned and bolted from the room.

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Severus sat on the couch and stared into the dancing flames, mulling over what had just happened. Hermione had told him he was handsome! He rubbed his temples and tried to think of just one person who had told him he was handsome. Nobody came to mind. Just Hermione. Hermione. He smiled as he thought of her. He loved their nightly visits almost as much as he loved brewing potions. She was the first person who had ever been a match for his mind and he loved stretching her to the limits. He loved the way her eyes would light up when an answer came to her, loved watching her think. That brain certainly was something.

He sighed and stood slowly, stretching his aching back muscles. They had sat and talked for several hours without moving from the couch and his muscles were complaining quite loudly about the mistreatment. 'I'll have to take an ache-relief potion tonight.' he thought to himself as he changed out of his clothes for bed.

He lay under the covers in the dark for quite some time before he finally fell into dreaming. Dreaming of a woman with shining chestnut hair and gleaming cinnamon eyes, and who smelled like berries and vanilla.